Multi-lobe digital microphone enabled audio capture and spatialization for generating an immersive arena based audio experience

ABSTRACT

An example immersive audio signal processing system and a computer-implemented method for generating a target arena environment audio stream are provided. The example immersive audio signal processing system includes a plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices positioned within the arena environment. The plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices is configured to direct first beamformed lobes to a playing region of the arena environment, second beamformed lobes to a spectator region of the arena environment, and third beamformed lobes to a noise source region of the arena environment. A digital signal processor is configured to isolate noise audio components originating from at least the spectator region or the noise source region from the audio signal stream and generate a target arena environment audio stream.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 63/367,541, filed Jul. 1, 2022, and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 63/501,493, filed May 11, 2023, the entirecontents of each application are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entireties.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to methods,systems, and computer program products for audio capture andspatialization proximate an arena environment.

BACKGROUND

Applicant has identified many deficiencies and problems associated withexisting methods, apparatus, and systems related to capturing,processing, and transmitting audio data in arena environments. Throughapplied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, many of these identifieddeficiencies and problems have been solved by developing solutions thatare configured in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure,many examples of which are described herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods,apparatus, systems, devices, and/or the like for capturing, processing,and generating audio data to provide an immersive audio experience for aspectator.

The immersive audio signal processing system described herein utilizesvarious sound wave capture devices, including various digital sound wavecapture devices and multi-lobe sound wave capture devices, to captureaudio from throughout an arena environment. Utilization of the varioussound wave capture devices allows overlapping audio coverage of theplaying region as well as coverage of audio emanating from the spectatorregion. Multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices enable the use ofbeamformed lobes to selectively include and exclude audio in an outputaudio signal stream. Additionally, or alternatively, the immersive audiosignal processing system described herein may utilize various audioprocessing techniques to isolate, classify, and selectively include orexclude audio based on the classified source.

The above summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing someexample embodiments to provide a basic understanding of some aspects ofthe disclosure. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that theabove-described embodiments are merely examples and should not beconstrued to narrow the scope or spirit of the disclosure. It will beappreciated that the scope of the disclosure encompasses many potentialembodiments in addition to those here summarized, some of which will befurther described below and embodied by the claims appended herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description of the illustrative embodiments can be read inconnection with the accompanying figures. It will be appreciated that,for simplicity and clarity, elements illustrated in the figures have notnecessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some ofthe elements are exaggerated relative to other elements. Embodimentsincorporating teachings of the present disclosure are shown anddescribed with respect to the figures presented herein, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example arena environment comprising an immersiveaudio signal processing system, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts an example basketball hoop support assembly comprising aplurality of sound wave capture devices, including array capturedevices, configured to capture an audio signal stream as input for animmersive audio signal processing system, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts an example scorer's table comprising a plurality of soundwave capture devices, including array capture devices, configured tocapture an audio signal stream as input for an immersive audio signalprocessing system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 depicts exemplary beamformed lobes generated by a ground lineararray sound wave capture device, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 depicts exemplary beamformed lobes generated by a hanging lineararray sound wave capture device, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6 depicts exemplary beamformed lobes generated by an angled lineararray sound wave capture device, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 7 depicts an approximation of the overlapping beamformed lobes fora selected sample of linear array sound wave capture devices depicted inFIG. 1 , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example stadium environment comprising animmersive audio signal processing system, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example enclosure for a circular array sound wavecapture device in an example stadium environment, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 depicts a schematic illustration of an immersive audio signalprocessing system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 depicts an exemplary connection diagram for routing audio signalstreams from a plurality of sound wave capture devices to an intelligentdigital signal processor, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 12 depicts a schematic illustration of an intelligent digitalsignal processor configured for use in an immersive audio signalprocessing system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention now will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, embodimentsof the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should notbe construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfyapplicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

Overview

Various embodiments of the present invention address technical problemsassociated with capturing, processing, and generating audio signalstreams, in other words, any collection of audio data, to provide animmersive audio experience for a remote spectator of a sporting event orother performance. The disclosed techniques can be implemented in anarena environment to capture audio signal streams, isolate the audiosignal streams based on class and/or locality, select desired audioclasses and/or locales, and generate an immersive audio stream that isconfigured for output via television broadcast or streaming service. Asdescribed herein, an arena environment refers to any building, venue,facility, or space comprising a playing region and a spectator region.In some embodiments, an arena environment may further include a noisesource region and a playing region adjacent area. An arena environmentmay comprise an indoor sporting arena, such as a basketball arena,football stadium, hockey stadium, soccer stadium, boxing arena, etc.; anindoor entertainment arena, such as a concert hall, theater, etc.; anoutdoor stadium environment, such as an outdoor football stadium, anoutdoor baseball stadium, a soccer stadium, a concert venue, etc.; oranother similar spectator environment in which audio signal stream arecaptured to create an immersive audio experience.

Techniques disclosed herein to create an immersive audio experienceinclude: selection and placement of sound wave capture devices such as1.5D microphone arrays, 2D linear and planar microphone arrays, 3Dsurface arrays of microphones, and 3D suspended arrays of microphones,in conjunction with traditional omnidirectional and unidirectional audiocapture devices; processing of audio signal streams to improve audioquality through artificially intelligent (AI) denoising and acousticecho cancellation; identification and classification of audio sources;localization of captured audio signal streams; and selection andgeneration of an immersive audio stream

Some flawed approaches to producing an immersive audio experienceinvolve positioning many static, directional, and analog microphonesaround an arena environment. The imperfect directionality of thesemicrophones allows unwanted sounds (such as music, public address (PA)audio, spectator sounds, etc.) to be included in the output audiostream.

In addition, if a broadcast television producer desires to capture audioin new directions or from another source, the directional microphonesmust be manually moved by an operator. Manual movement of directionalmicrophones is also required when the target source of the audio capturemoves around the arena environment. This can be particularly problematicin large arena environments such as football stadiums, soccer stadiums,baseball stadiums, and the like.

Capturing sufficient localized audio signal streams to create animmersive experience using directional microphones also requires manydirectional microphones and accompanying cabling to point to the variousareas of interest in an arena environment. Finally, in-game audioproduced from directional microphones must be manually mixed by anengineer by selecting specific audio sources to enable and disable,which can be difficult to execute during a live broadcast.

Some example immersive audio signal processing systems disclosed hereinutilize various sound wave capture devices to capture an audio signalstream from an arena environment. For example, multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices may be configured to define beamformed lobes basedon locality. Utilizing multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices todefine beamformed lobes provides coverage of a wide area while stillallowing focused selection of specific regions of interest.

Use of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices, such as steerabledigital sound wave capture devices and switchable digital sound wavecapture devices configured with beamformed lobes allows for enhancedaudio region selectivity while minimizing the number of needed audiocapture devices by selectively updating the audio capture area based onthe desired immersive audio experience.

Immersive audio signal processing systems as discussed herein areconfigured to use advanced audio processing techniques, such asseparation and classification of audio sources, to further classify andfocus the captured audio streams. For example, in circumstances where anarena environment includes a basketball court, an artificialintelligence (AI) classification module may be disposed in a digitalsignal processing chain to classify an audio signal stream source asvoice, conversation, ball sounds, player exclamations, or PA sounds.Similarly, in circumstances where an arena environment includes abaseball field, the AI classification module may classify the crack ofthe bat, the slap of the glove, exclamations from the dugout, or othersounds that may contribute to the overall spectator experience.

The classification of audio sources within a beamformed lobe may allowthe immersive audio system to define a beamformed lobe based not only onlocality (i.e., region within the arena), but also based on theclassification type of the audio sources. For example, a beamformed lobemay be defined to encompass sources classified as playing region playersounds, playing region ball sounds, playing region conversations,playing region adjacent area conversations, spectator regionconversations, and so on. Classifying audio signal streams in this wayand providing multiple channels of audio signal streams according toclassification and locality may enable an immersive audio stream toreduce unwanted noise such as spectator region conversations and publicannouncer noise, enhancing the desirable audio from the playing regionand playing region adjacent area, even in circumstances where the sourceof the desirable audio rapidly and unpredictably moves about the playingregion of an arena environment.

The form factors of the microphone arrays may also allow for unique andstealth placements of the audio devices to blend into an arenaenvironment. In the basketball court example, array sound wave capturedevices of various form factors may be positioned along the edges ofbackboards, along basketball hoop support assemblies, along tables,along lights, or integrated into walls, ceilings, and floors. In thebaseball example, array sound wave capture devices may be placed alongthe backstop or outfield wall, along the dugout, within existingprotective enclosures, or other similar positions. The stealth formfactor of array sound wave capture devices coupled with an immersiveaudio signal processing system that is configured to use fewer audiocapture devices allows capture of sufficient immersive audio contentwithout distracting spectators or participants.

As a result of the improved capture and classification of audio signalstreams, captured audio signal streams may be distributed in audiochannels in a manner that enables the rapid generation of a variety ofunique immersive audio experiences. A television producer could easilycreate multiple audio mixes that provide a different immersiveexperience focusing on different aspects of the game or performance. Forexample, an immersive audio signal processing system as discussed hereincould produce: an immersive audio experience as an audience member inthe stands; an immersive audio experience from the perspective of aplayer playing on the playing surface of an arena environment; animmersive audio experience from the perspective of an assistant coachstanding near other coaches and players, an immersive audio experienceseated next to play-by-play announcers; or an immersive audio experienceproviding selective focus or de-focus on other arena environment audiocomponents such as in-stadium music, crowd noise, on-court sounds, andso on.

By labeling the audio signal streams according to location within thearena environment, audio signal streams can change based on the currentcamera view of a broadcast television feed. For example, in thebasketball arena example, the audio stream coupled with the broadcasttelevision feed may be configured such that sounds originating from theleft side of the broadcast television view may be output on the leftchannel of a multiple audio channel sound system (e.g., surround sound).Similarly, sounds originating from behind the broadcast television viewmay be output on the rear channel of a multiple audio channel soundsystem. When the broadcast television perspective switches to adifferent camera view the output channels may be updated to coordinateaudio streams with the associated output audio system channel.

In the baseball stadium example, audio stream capture may be integratedwith camera motion. For example, in some embodiments, camera motion maybe dictated by a positional sensing system, such as Statcast™ used byMajor League Baseball®. The locale of captured audio data may beautomatically controlled using beamformed lobes of a multi-lobe digitalsound wave capture device to correspond to an updated field of viewdefined by the current camera view.

Classified audio signal streams could be transmitted on independentchannels to a remote viewing display, allowing a remote viewingspectator to decide the mix of components to create their own immersiveaudio experience on the remote viewing display. Alternatively, a remoteviewing spectator could select the desired immersive audio experience byselecting a perspective from within the arena to experience the audiocontent from (e.g., selecting a “sideline” experience, an “on the court”experience, an “in the stands” experience, and so on) from which thesystem may determine the immersive audio content based on the tagged 3Dlocations of the audio signal streams.

Immersive Audio Signal Processing System Details

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary arena environment 101 that is configuredto include an immersive audio signal processing system 100 structured inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Thedepicted arena environment 101 is a basketball arena environment.However, immersive audio signal processing systems 100 as discussedherein may be configured for operation within a variety of arenaenvironments including football stadium environments, hockey stadiumenvironments, soccer stadium environments, baseball stadiumenvironments, concert hall or stadium environments, theatricalenvironments, and the like.

An immersive audio signal processing system (e.g., immersive audiosignal processing system 100) refers to any system of sound wave capturedevices (e.g., microphones) and associated devices, including processingdevices, configured to capture audio signal streams from an arenaenvironment and generate a target arena environment audio stream tocreate an immersive audio experience for a remote spectator.

The example arena environment 101 depicted in FIG. 1 comprises arectangular playing region 102 having two ends and two sides, playerbench areas 156 a, 156 b adjacent to the playing region 102, a spectatorregion 103, and a noise source region 105. The depicted noise sourceregion 105 includes a jumbotron video board with speakers on lateralsides for playing music and PA remarks to spectators seated in thespectator region 103.

As referenced herein, a playing region refers to the portion of thearena environment in which the performers are designated to perform. Aplaying region may comprise a basketball playing surface, a footballfield, the ice surface of a hockey stadium, the pitch of a soccer field,the field area of a baseball field, the stage of an entertainment arena,concert hall, or theater, or another similar participant region of anarena environment.

An arena environment may further include a playing region adjacent area(e.g., player bench area 156 a, 156 b). A playing region adjacent arearefers to the physical area of the arena environment in which performersare positioned when they are not in the playing region. For example, theplaying region adjacent area may include player bench areas (e.g.,player bench area 156 a, 156 b) in a basketball arena environment, thedugout area (e.g., dugout area 824, 826 as shown in FIG. 8 ) in abaseball stadium environment, the backstage area in a concert or theaterarena environment, and other similar areas adjacent to a playing region.

At each end of the playing region 102 is a basketball hoop supportassembly 104. Each basketball hoop support assembly 104 comprises a rim106 with an attached net 108 and connected to a backboard 110. Eachbasketball hoop support assembly 104 further comprises a horizontal hoopsupport beam 112 and a vertical hoop support beam 114 physically coupledby a support beam connector and configured to hold the backboard 110,rim 106, and net 108 in an elevated position. Each basketball hoopsupport assembly 104 is configured to support a number of sound wavecapture devices as discussed in detail in connection with FIG. 2 below.

A sound wave capture device refers to any apparatus or device comprisingone or more transducers configured to receive sound waves and convertthe sound waves into an electrical signal. In some embodiments, a soundwave capture device may comprise a digital sound wave capture deviceconfigured to encode the sound as a digital signal for transmission. Asound wave capture device may comprise an analog sound wave capturedevice configured to compress and expand the audio signal duringtransmission. A sound wave capture device may be configured to transmitthe electrical signal wirelessly to a receiver.

In addition to those sound wave capture devices shown in the detailedview of FIG. 2 , FIG. 1 depicts a support base linear array sound wavecapture device 152 positioned near the base of the basketball hoopsupport assembly 104. In the depicted embodiment, the support baselinear array sound wave capture device 152 is directed generally towardthe surface of the playing region 102. Positioning a support base lineararray sound wave capture device 152 near the base of the basketball hoopsupport assembly 104 and directed toward the playing region 102 allowsoverlapping coverage of the areas of the court of highest interest, suchas the key areas (140 a, 140 b) and surrounding areas.

The depicted support base linear array sound wave capture device 152 isa Shure MXA710 four-foot array sound wave capture device that isconfigured to produce up to 8 beamformed steerable lobes. Althoughdepicted as a linear array sound wave capture device, the support baselinear array sound wave capture device 152 may be any multi-lobe digitalsound wave capture device capable of capturing playing region audiocontent.

As referenced herein, a multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devicerefers to any sound wave capture device configured to filter and/orenhance received sound waves to achieve spatial selectivity in the formof discrete beamformed lobes. In some embodiments, a multi-lobe digitalsound wave capture device may comprise a steerable digital sound wavecapture device. In some embodiments, a multi-lobe digital sound wavecapture device may comprise a switchable sound wave capture device.

A steerable digital sound wave capture device refers to any multi-lobedigital sound wave capture device that is configured to move orreposition one or more beamformed lobes from a first audio capture areato a second audio capture area. Such adjustment may be performed viabeamforming techniques, such as delay and sum. In some embodiments, thewidth, distance, and number of beamformed lobes generated by a steerabledigital sound wave capture device may be adjusted through beamformingtechniques. Example steerable digital sound wave capture devices includevarious array sound wave capture devices. In some embodiments, asteerable digital sound wave capture device may be configured totransmit and receive wireless communication such that one or morebeamformed lobes may be updated remotely.

An array sound wave capture device refers to a sound wave capture devicecomprising a plurality of transducers configured to utilize signalprocessing techniques to uniformly capture and process sound wave data.An array sound wave capture device may use beamforming techniques toproduce one or more steerable beamformed lobes. Example array sound wavecapture devices include linear array sound wave capture devices, planararray sound wave capture devices, circular array sound wave capturedevices, 2D array sound wave capture devices, 3D surface array soundwave capture devices, suspended 3D array sound wave capture devices, andthe like.

Array sound wave capture devices may further include 1.5D array soundwave capture devices. A 1.5D array sound wave capture device is an arraysound wave capture device configured to provide a one-dimensional formfactor that, in some embodiments, has added directivity, for most, ifnot all, frequencies, in dimensions that, conventionally, have equalsensitivity in all directions as discussed in greater detail in commonlyowned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11,297,426, titled“One-Dimensional Array Microphone with Improved Directivity,” and filedon Aug. 22, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

Linear array sound wave capture device refers to an array sound wavecapture device wherein the plurality of transducers is arranged suchthat the length of the array of transducers exceeds the width. In someembodiments, a linear array arrangement of transducers may enable alinear array sound wave capture device to be configured to use highlyselective end fire beamformed lobes to capture sound emanating from adirection parallel to the linear array and broadside beamformed lobes tocapture sound emanating from a direction perpendicular to the lineararray. As referenced herein, example linear array sound wave capturedevices include ground linear array sound wave capture devices, hanginglinear array sound wave capture devices, angled linear array sound wavecapture devices, support base linear array sound wave capture devices,spectator linear array sound wave capture devices, and the like.

Circular array sound wave capture device refers to an array sound wavecapture device wherein the plurality of transducers is arranged in acircular pattern. In some embodiments, a circular array arrangement oftransducers may enable a circular array sound wave capture device to beconfigured to generate beamformed lobes to selectively capture audiodata in a 360-degree audio capture area from the surface of thetransducers. As referenced herein, example circular array sound wavecapture devices include table top array sound wave capture devices.

A switchable digital sound wave capture device refers to any multi-lobedigital sound wave capture device in which the mechanism for separatingreceived sound waves provides selection between a plurality of definedcapture area orientations. For example, a switchable digital sound wavecapture device may comprise a multi-pattern condenser. By enabling anddisabling the various condenser patterns, audio data may be capturedfrom different locations relative to the switchable digital sound wavecapture device. In some embodiments, a switchable digital sound wavecapture device may comprise a plurality of transducers configured indifferent orientations, such that an audio capture area may be selectedby enabling and disabling the activation status of various transducers.In this way, certain beamformed lobes are activated while others aredeactivated. In some embodiments, a switchable digital sound wavecapture device may be configured to transmit and receive wirelesscommunication such that capture area orientations may be updatedremotely. In some examples, a switchable digital sound wave capturedevice may comprise a Shure KSM44A.

As referenced herein, audio capture area refers to the physical areafrom which a particular sound wave capture device may receive audiodata. For example, in a directed sound wave capture device, such as ashotgun microphone, the audio capture may include a narrow but longaudio capture area, such that audio data may be captured from physicallocations in a very narrow or directed set of locations. In anotherexample, a circular array sound wave capture device may simultaneouslycapture audio data in a wide set of physical locations. Some devices,such as multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices may be continuallyupdated to change the audio capture area of the device. In someinstances, a multi-lobe sound wave capture device may be configured tocapture audio data from a narrow audio capture area, while in otherinstances, a multi-lobe sound wave capture device may be configured tocapture audio data from a wide audio capture area. In general, a narrowaudio capture area may receive audio data from further physicallocations due to reductions in noise from other audio sources.

To capture additional audio content on or near the playing region 102,some or all of the participants (e.g., players, coaches, referees, etc.)may be equipped with a bodypack sound wave capture device 154. Thedepicted bodypack sound wave capture device 154 is a Shure Q5XPlayerMic, however, the bodypack sound wave capture device 154 may beany sound wave capture device that may be worn by a player or otherparticipant while still enabling participation. Utilization of abodypack sound wave capture device 154 allows capture and transmissionof player, coach, and referee conversations, as well as other on-courtand in-game audio content that adds to an immersive audio experience.Such bodypack sound wave capture devices 154 also allow for the captureof playing region adjacent area audio data, such as player bench area156 a, 156 b audio coverage.

The depicted arena environment 101 further comprises a first scorer'stable 130 a and a second scorer's table 130 b positioned on the surfaceof the playing region 102 and running parallel to each lateral side ofthe playing region 102. In the depicted embodiment, a table top arraysound wave capture device 134 has been hung from the first scorer'stable 130 a and directed toward the playing region 102. A ground lineararray sound wave capture device 132 is disposed on the floor surface ofthe playing region 102 at the base of the first scorer's table 130 a anddirected upward from the surface of the playing region 102. The positionof the table top array sound wave capture device 134 and the groundlinear array sound wave capture device 132 is illustrated more clearlyin the detail view of the first scorer's table 130 a shown in FIG. 3 .

During a basketball game, the depicted playing region 102 is populatedwith participating players, referees, team coaches, cheerleaders,halftime show members, and others. These participants will create avariety of sounds, many of which are not effectively captured bydirectional microphone setups but which, if captured, would addconsiderable value to an immersive audio experience for a remote viewingspectator. For example, conversations between players, coaches, andreferees; player exclamations; floor noises such as squeaking shoes andbouncing balls; whistles; and so on, collectively referred to ason-court sounds are inconsistently or infrequently captured but shouldplay a central role in any immersive experience. Playing region adjacentarea noises, such as conversations in the player bench area 156 a, 156b, may be selectively included or excluded in an immersive audioexperience.

The depicted arena environment 101 includes a spectator region 103. Thespectator region refers to the portion of the arena environmentdesignated for in-person spectators during game play or a performance.The spectator region comprises seating and viewing areas for in-personspectators to watch the events occurring in the playing region. In someembodiments, the spectator region may be configured in an amphitheaterconfiguration such that it fully or partially encircles the playingregion. The spectator region may also be configured to encompass one ortwo lateral sides of the playing region. The depicted spectator region103 of FIG. 1 provides seating and viewing areas for in-personspectators to watch the basketball game occurring in the playing region102.

The depicted spectator region 103 may be the source of a number ofsounds during a basketball game. Some of these sounds may be desirablefor inclusion in a television broadcast while others are undesirable andshould be excluded. For example, crowd cheers and boos may be consideredas desirable sounds to be included in a television broadcast while othersounds, such as spectator conversations, exclamations from individualspectators, and announcements from the PA system, may be deemedundesirable.

In addition to those sound wave capture devices shown in the detailedviews of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , FIG. 1 depicts a spectator linear arraysound wave capture device 150. In the depicted embodiment, the spectatorlinear array sound wave capture device 150 is mounted to the base of acamera positioned in the spectator region 103. Mounting a spectatorlinear array sound wave capture device 150 on or near a camera may allowan ambient perspective immersive audio experience to be created, suchthat the captured audio content corresponds with the movement and/orpanning of the camera.

Although the depicted spectator linear array sound wave capture device150 is mounted to the base of a camera positioned in the spectatorregion 103, a spectator linear array sound wave capture device 150 maybe positioned on or near the body of the camera, or anywhere in or nearthe spectator region 103. The depicted spectator linear array sound wavecapture device 150 is a Shure MXA710 four-foot array sound wave capturedevice, however, the spectator linear array sound wave capture device150 may be any multi-lobe digital sound wave capture device configuredto capture and transmit surrounding audio content. Utilizing a spectatorlinear array sound wave capture device 150 enables the capture ofin-audience sounds adding to the immersive audio experience. Althoughonly one spectator linear array sound wave capture device 150 is shown,multiple such devices may be used throughout the spectator region 103 asmay be appropriate for adequate audio coverage.

Some wave capture devices may be strategically placed to capture andprocess audio signal streams originating from the spectator region 103.Depending on the desired user experience, this audio content may bemixed with other streams for transmission to a remote viewing display,as described further in relation to FIG. 12 . Alternatively, the audiosignal streams from the spectator region 103 may be isolated accordingto classified audio source (e.g., shouting vendors, etc.) and/orlocality and may be selectively removed from audio streams that form adesired immersive audio experience.

For example, an immersive audio signal processing system 100 may beconfigured to provide a playing region 102 audio stream mixed with anaudio stream of cheers and boos drawn from a crowd seated in thespectator region 103 to add to the immersive audio experience. While inanother immersive audio experience, the immersive audio signalprocessing system 100 may be configured to provide a playing region 102audio stream with audio signal streams originating from the spectatorregion 103 entirely removed, if, for example, there is a desire toemphasize player conversations, coaches and referee discussions, floorsounds, or other indistinct on-court sounds.

As further depicted in FIG. 1 , the arena environment 101 includes anoise source region 105. A noise source region refers to the portion ofthe arena environment from which additional sound waves may emanate. Insome embodiments, the noise source region may include sound waves fromthe PA announcer, audio advertisements and announcements, music, andother sounds emanating from the arena environment speakers.

An immersive audio signal processing system 100 may also include soundwave capture devices (not shown) that are directed toward the noisesource region 105. By capturing noise source region 105 originatingaudio signal streams, such immersive audio signal processing systems 100are configured to isolate or cancel audio from the noise source region105. Alternatively, audio streams originating from the noise sourceregion 105 may be captured without dedicated sound wave capture devicesby tapping an audio feed to the depicted jumbotron or speaker array toprovide an auxiliary audio feed 1016 as shown in FIG. 10 .

FIG. 2 depicts a detailed view of an example basketball hoop supportassembly 104 as illustrated in FIG. 1 . The depicted basketball hoopsupport assembly 104 comprises a hanging linear array sound wave capturedevice 122 attached to the bottom surface of its horizontal hoop supportbeam 112. The hanging linear array sound wave capture device 122 isdirected generally toward the surface of the playing region 102. Thedepicted hanging linear array sound wave capture device 122 is a ShureMXA710 four-foot array sound wave capture device that is configured toproduce up to 8 beamformed steerable lobes.

Different steerable lobes emanating from the hanging linear array soundwave capture device 122 may be used to capture sound originating fromvarious regions proximate the basketball hoop support assembly 104. Forexample, as discussed in detail in FIG. 5 , the depicted hanging lineararray sound wave capture device 122 may be configured to use highlyselective end fire beamformed lobes to capture sound emanating from adirection parallel to the length-wise direction of the linear array andbroadside beamformed lobes to capture sound emanating from a directionperpendicular to the length-wise direction of the linear array.

The depicted basketball hoop support assembly 104 further comprises anangled linear array sound wave capture device 124 attached to one sideof the basketball hoop support assembly 104 proximate an intersection ofthe vertical hoop support beam 114 and the horizontal hoop support beam112. The angled linear array sound wave capture device 124 is attachedat an angle off of horizontal such that one end of the angled lineararray sound wave capture device 124 is directed toward the playingregion 102 immediately beneath the basket. This angled positioningfurther directs an opposite end of the angled linear array sound wavecapture device 124 toward the spectator region 103. Positioning theangled linear array sound wave capture device 124 in this way directshighly selective end fire beams at one end of the angled linear arraysound wave capture device 124 toward the playing region 102 and endfirebeams produced at the other end of the angled linear array sound wavecapture device 124 toward the spectator region 103, as shown in FIG. 6 .

The depicted basketball hoop support assembly 104 may further comprise anet sound wave capture device 202 positioned in close proximity to therim 106. The net sound wave capture device 202 may be a miniature orsubminiature microphone capable of placement near the rim 106 and net108 without interfering with or distracting from the basketballcompetition. For example, a lavalier microphone, clip microphone, orother similar microphone may be used. By positioning a net sound wavecapture device 202 proximate the rim 106, sounds such as the “swish” ofa basketball going through the net 108, the “clang” of the basketballhitting the rim 106, and/or player exclamations made during aparticularly strong slam dunk may be collected and selectively added toor removed from a target arena environment audio stream of the immersiveaudio signal processing system 100 depending on the desired userexperience.

As referenced herein, a target arena environment audio stream refers toany audio data captured from the playing region, spectator region, noisesource region, and the like, of an arena environment that is included inan audio signal stream for purposes of creating an immersive audioexperience. The target arena environment audio stream may comprisevarious desirable sounds, such as player sounds and exclamations; gameplay sounds such as a bouncing ball, a sliding puck, the smack of abaseball glove; player and official conversations; and other similarsounds. Undesirable sounds, such as curse words, PA announcer sound,crowd conversations, and the like, may be selectively removed from thetarget arena environment audio stream based on the specificconfiguration of the immersive audio signal processing system, includinga digital environment encoding. In some embodiments, audio data from thespectator region and/or noise source region may be removed to generatethe target arena environment audio stream. The target arena environmentaudio stream is discussed further in relation to FIG. 10 and FIG. 12 .

Although not shown here, the basketball hoop support assembly 104depicted in FIG. 2 may further comprise a hoop shotgun sound wavecapture device directed toward the playing region 102 on a surfaceopposite to the angled linear array sound wave capture device 124proximate the intersection of the vertical hoop support beam 114 and thehorizontal hoop support beam 112. The hoop shotgun sound wave capturedevice may be a unidirectional microphone positioned to further capturesounds emanating from on the playing region 102 while eliminating soundsoff the playing region 102 (i.e., sounds from the spectator region 103)to the side and behind the capture device.

In addition, although not shown here, the immersive audio signalprocessing system 100 may further comprise a baseline parabolic soundwave capture device which may be manually directed to capture sounds ofinterest as determined by an operator. Utilizing a baseline parabolicsound wave capture device provides another source for capturing on-courtsounds and other sounds deemed to be of interest to the remote spectatorviewer and may further inform the location and source of captured audiosignal streams in the arena environment 101.

FIG. 3 is a detail view of the first scorer's table 130 a illustratingexample positioning of a ground linear array sound wave capture device132 and a table top array sound wave capture device 134. The depictedground linear array sound wave capture device 132 is positioned at ornear the base of the first scorer's table 130 a proximate to the surfaceof the playing region 102. The depicted ground linear array sound wavecapture device 132 is a linear array sound wave capture device, such asa Shure MXA710 four-foot linear array sound wave capture device, that isconfigured to produce up to 8 beamformed steerable lobes.

The depicted positioning of the ground linear array sound wave capturedevice 132 enables an immersive audio signal processing system 100 tocapture sounds from the playing region 102 such as those produced byplayers, referees, and coaches' conversations; floor sounds such asshoes squeaking and the ball bouncing; whistles; and similar on-courtsounds. A ground linear array sound wave capture device 132 furtherenables an immersive audio signal processing system 100 to select beamsbased on playing region location as discussed in connection with FIG. 4. While the ground linear array sound wave capture device 132illustrated in FIG. 3 is a single four-foot Shure MXA710 linear arraysound wave capture device, in other embodiments, two, two-foot ShureMXA710 linear array sound wave capture devices may be used instead.

The depicted table top array sound wave capture device 134 is attachedproximate the top surface of the first scorer's table 130 a and directedtoward the playing region 102. A table top array sound wave capturedevice 134 may be a circular array sound wave capture device configuredto perform traditional beamforming techniques and AI based beamformingtechniques allowing an immersive audio signal processing system 100 toisolate sounds based on location within the microphone's auditorycapture space and source of the audio signal stream. A table top arraysound wave capture device 134 allows further capture of on-court sounds,including those produced by player, coach, and referee voices, playingregion 102 sounds, and other on-court sounds of interest to a remoteviewing spectator. In the depicted embodiment, the table top array soundwave capture device 134 shown is a Shure MXA310 array sound wave capturedevice.

Though not shown here, table-mounted shotgun sound wave capture devicesmay also be placed at opposite sides of the second scorer's table 130 b.The table-mounted shotgun sound wave capture devices may be directedtoward the basketball hoop support assemblies 104 on the correspondingends of the playing region 102 where the bulk of player activity isexpected to take place providing overlapping capture of on-court soundsemanating from the parts of the playing region 102 where the majority ofthe competitive action occurs.

FIG. 4 illustrates example ground array beamformed lobes 402 produced bythe exemplary ground linear array sound wave capture device 132 shown inFIG. 1 . Beamformed lobes are specific areas within the field of captureof a sound wave capture device from which audio data may be isolated.Beamformed lobes may be formed using signal processing techniques, suchas beam forming or spatial filtering. For example, an array sound wavecapture device may utilize beamforming techniques such as delay and sum,to define beamformed lobes in the field of capture of a sound wavecapture device based on locality. Beamformed lobes formed usingbeamforming techniques may enable steerable lobes to be generated,capable of precise isolation based on spatial location. In someembodiments, switchable beamformed lobes may be realized by enabling anddisabling the various transducers of a switchable digital sound wavecapture device.

The depicted ground linear array sound wave capture device 132 in FIG. 4is a Shure MXA710 linear array sound wave capture device that isconfigured to utilize a plurality of distinct beamformed lobes (e.g.,ground array beamformed lobes 402 a-d). In the depicted embodiment,ground array beamformed lobe 402 a is directed to capture soundoccurring in a first key area 140 a while another ground arraybeamformed lobe 402 d is directed to capture sound occurring in secondkey area 140 b. Another ground array beamformed lobe 402 b is directedto capture sound occurring in a first midcourt area 147 a while stillanother ground array beamformed lobe 402 c is directed to capture soundoccurring in second midcourt area 147 b.

The depicted ground array beamformed lobes 402 a-d may be configured tocapture audio streams that are routed to four discrete audio channelsthat are labeled Left, Left/Center, Right/Center, and Right as shown inFIG. 4 . Such discrete audio channels may be output to an intelligentdigital signal processor 1014 (shown in FIG. 10 ) on four distinctoutput ports 1106 as illustrated in connection with block 1104 of FIG.11 .

An immersive audio signal processing system 100 may be configured toselect between audio streams captured by the depicted ground arraybeamformed lobes 402 a-d depending on the desired immersive audioexperience to be included in the target arena environment audio stream1022 (shown in FIG. 10 ). For example, a particular ground arraybeamformed lobe 402 a-d may be selected based on a location ofparticular interest (e.g., ground array beamformed lobes 402 b-cselected to capture tip-off related audio streams).

A ground array beamformed lobe 402 a-d may also be automaticallyselected based on the camera angle of the broadcast video feed 1018(shown in FIG. 10 ). In such an example, if a broadcast video feed 1018displays a camera view from the sideline, the immersive audio signalprocessing system 100 may automatically select the left ground arraybeamformed lobe 402 a to be output on the left speakers of a remoteviewing entertainment system and the right ground array beamformed lobe402 d to output on the right speakers of a remote viewing entertainmentsystem. Further, AI techniques may be used to determine an audio sourceclassification to enhance spatial localization. In such embodiments, aground array beamformed lobe 402 a-d may be automatically selected toisolate and amplify audio signal streams containing desired classes ofaudio content (e.g., on-court sounds) and to remove or cancel audiosignal streams containing unwanted classes of audio content (e.g.,off-court sounds).

FIG. 5 illustrates example hanging array beamformed lobes 502 a-c of anexample hanging linear array sound wave capture device 122 of the typedepicted in FIG. 2 . The depicted hanging linear array sound wavecapture device 122 is a Shure MXA710 linear array sound wave capturedevice that is configured to employ beamforming techniques, such asdelay and sum, to create distinct hanging array beamformed lobes 502a-c. In the depicted embodiment, hanging array beamformed lobe 502 a isdirected to capture sound occurring in a first baseline area whileanother hanging array beamformed lobe 502 c is directed to capture soundoccurring in a second baseline area. The third depicted hanging arraybeamformed lobe 502 b is directed to capture sound occurring in a top ofkey area 140 b as shown.

In the depicted configuration, hanging array beamformed lobes 502 a and502 c may be configured to capture audio streams produced from thebaselines and from players and coaches seated in playing region adjacentareas, such as the player bench areas 156 a, 156 b. Hanging arraybeamformed lobe 502 b is configured to capture audio streams producedfrom players positioned in the key area 140 a. Similar to the beamformedlobes discussed above at FIG. 4 , an immersive audio signal processingsystem 100 may be configured to select among the depicted hanging arraybeamformed lobes 502 a-c to target audio streams of particular interestbased on playing area region or audio class.

FIG. 6 similarly illustrates example angled array beamformed lobes 602a-b produced by an example angled linear array sound wave capture device124 of the type depicted in FIG. 2 . The depicted angled linear arraysound wave capture device 124 is a Shure MXA710 linear array sound wavecapture device that is configured to employ beamforming techniques, suchas delay and sum, to create distinct angled array beamformed lobes 602a-b.

In the depicted embodiment, a first angled array beamformed lobe 602 ais directed to the center of the playing region 102, including the keyarea 140 a, while a second angled array beamformed lobe 602 b isdirected to the spectator region 103. Further, the angled linear arraysound wave capture device 124 may produce a third angled arraybeamformed lobe (not shown) that is directed toward the noise sourceregion 105. Similar to the beamformed lobes discussed in relation toFIG. 4 -FIG. 5 , an immersive audio signal processing system 100 may beconfigured to select among the depicted angled array beamformed lobes602 a-b to target audio streams of particular interest based on playingarea region or audio class.

FIG. 7 depicts beamformed lobe coverage patterns produced by an examplehanging linear array sound wave capture device 122, an angled lineararray sound wave capture device 124, and a ground linear array soundwave capture device 132 positioned as shown in FIG. 1 . The depictedhanging linear array sound wave capture device 122 is configured toproduce hanging array beamformed lobes 502 a-c. The depicted angledlinear array sound wave capture device 124 is configured to produceangled array beamformed lobes 602 a-b. The depicted ground linear arraysound wave capture device 132 is configured to produce ground arraybeamformed lobes 402 a-d.

Although the hanging, angled, and ground array beamformed lobes 402 a-d,502 a-c, and 602 a-b are shown as primarily generated using variousarray sound wave capture devices, other multi-lobe sound wave capturedevices may be used. For example, steerable beamformed lobes may also begenerated utilizing switchable digital sound wave capture devices havingmultiple transducers that are configured to switch between activatedcapture transducers, which are directed at different locales.

In reference to FIG. 5 , in some embodiments, a switchable digital soundwave capture device may include a first transducer directed to a firstbaseline area, positioned to capture audio data in a beamformed lobesimilar to hanging array beamformed lobe 502 a. A second transducer maybe directed to a second baseline area, positioned to capture audio datain a beamformed lobe similar to hanging array beamformed lobe 502 c. Athird transducer may be directed to a key area 140 b, positioned tocapture audio data in a beamformed lobe similar to hanging arraybeamformed lobe 502 b. Similarly, multiple transducers in a switchabledigital sound wave capture device may be positioned to capture audiodata in beamformed lobes similar to the beamformed lobes 602 a, 602 bdepicted in FIG. 6 .

The depicted overlapping positioning of hanging array beamformed lobes502 a-c, angled array beamformed lobes 602 a-b, and ground arraybeamformed lobes 402 a-d produce overlapping audio coverage thatconverges in areas of greatest expected player activity in the playingregion 102. Such overlapping beamformed lobes also enable an immersiveaudio signal processing system 100 to utilize techniques such as audiosource separation, localization of audio classes, and localization ofspatial locations of captured audio sounds. These techniques enableidentification of the class and the source of an audio signal stream.Utilizing this information, the immersive audio signal processing system100 may remove unwanted classes of audio signal streams or unwantedlocations of audio signal streams depending on the desired immersiveaudio experience. In addition, the immersive audio signal processingsystem 100 may coordinate sound locations with output speakers tosynchronize the sound output based on the corresponding camera view ofthe broadcast video feed 1018 (shown in FIG. 10 ).

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary baseball stadium environment 801 asanother possible arena environment. The depicted baseball stadiumenvironment 801 is configured to include an immersive audio signalprocessing system 800 structured in accordance with various embodimentsof the present invention. The example baseball stadium environment 801depicted in FIG. 8 comprises a playing region 802, a spectator region803, and a noise source region 805. The depicted playing region 802 mayinclude a playing surface or field comprising a home plate area 820, abackstop 822, a pitcher's mound area 828, a first base area 830, asecond base area 832, a third base area 834, an outfield area 836, andan outfield wall 838. The depicted baseball stadium environment 801further includes two playing region adjacent areas, more specifically,dugout area 824 proximate to the third base area 834, and dugout area826 proximate to the first base area 830. The depicted noise sourceregion 805 includes a jumbotron video board with speakers for playingmusic and PA remarks to spectators seated in the spectator region 803.Although not shown, noise source regions may be found at various otherpositions within the depicted baseball stadium environment 801 such as,for example, positions where other PA system speakers are located.

During a baseball game, the depicted playing region 802 is populatedwith participating players, umpires, team coaches, bat boys, and others.These participants will create a variety of sounds, many of which arenot effectively captured by directional microphones and analog setupsbut which, if captured, would add considerable value to an immersiveaudio experience for a remote viewing spectator. For example,conversations between players, coaches, and umpires; playerexclamations; sounds of the games such as the crack of the bat, the slapof the mitt, and player slides; umpire calls; and many other soundsoccur in the playing region 802. Such on-field sounds may beinfrequently captured but should play a central role in any immersiveaudio experience.

The depicted baseball stadium environment 801 further includes aspectator region 803 that provides seating and viewing areas forin-person spectators to watch the game occurring in the playing region802. The depicted spectator region 803 may be the source of a number ofsounds during a baseball game. Some of these sounds may be desirable forinclusion in an immersive audio experience while others are undesirableand should be excluded. For example, crowd cheers and boos may beconsidered as desirable sounds to be included in an immersive experiencewhile other sounds, such as spectator conversations, exclamations fromindividual spectators, shouting vendors, and announcements from the PAsystem, may be deemed undesirable.

The noise source region 805 shown in FIG. 8 is a source for audio signalstreams from the PA announcer, audio advertisements and announcements,music, and other sounds emanating from the baseball stadium environment801 speakers. An immersive audio signal processing system 800 may alsoinclude digital sound wave capture devices (not shown) that are directedtoward the noise source region 805. By capturing audio signal streamsoriginating from the noise source region 805, such immersive audiosignal processing systems 800 may be configured to isolate or cancelaudio from the noise source region 805.

As further depicted in FIG. 8 , the audio signal processing system 800comprises a plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devicespositioned near the playing region 802. A first infield digital soundwave capture device 818 is placed proximate the backstop 822 at an angle840 defined from the line passing through the pitcher's mound and homeplate. The first infield digital sound wave capture device 818 may beplaced along the backstop 822 at any angle 840, depending on thearrangement of the baseball stadium environment 801, the location ofpower and other cabling, the location of a protective enclosure (e.g.,protective enclosure 904 as described in relation to FIG. 9 ), thedigital sound wave capture devices used, the number of digital soundwave capture devices available, and other similar factors.

In the depicted embodiment, the first infield digital sound wave capturedevice 818 is placed at an angle 840 that ranges between 30 and 60degrees, more preferably between 35 and 55 degrees, and most preferablybetween 40 and 50 degrees. In some embodiments, the first infielddigital sound wave capture device 818 may be placed anywhere along thewall dividing the spectator region 803 from the playing region 802,including in the dugout area 824, or any other location enabling thecapture of sounds emanating from the infield area of the playing region802.

As further depicted in FIG. 8 , the first infield digital sound wavecapture device 818 may be configured to produce a plurality of steerablebeamformed lobes (e.g., infield directed beamformed lobes set 810 a-810d). The depicted steerable infield directed beamformed lobes set 810a-810 d may be generated based on beamformed techniques, such as delayand sum, made possible by the use of array sound wave capture devices.However, steerable beamformed lobes may also be generated utilizing asound wave capture device having multiple transducers wherein thecapture device is configured to remotely switch between activatedcapture transducers that are aimed at different locations.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the infield directed beamformed lobes set 810 a-810d comprise steerable beamformed lobes, wherein each steerable beamformedlobe of the infield directed beamformed lobes set 810 a-810 d may bedirected at different areas of the playing region 802 to capture soundsthat may enhance the immersive audio experience. For example, asdepicted in FIG. 8 , a first home plate beamformed lobe 810 d isdirected to capture sound from the home plate area 820, while a firstpitcher's mound beamformed lobe 810 c is directed toward the pitcher'smound area 828, a third base beamformed lobe 810 b is directed towardthe third base area 834, and a first dugout beamformed lobe 810 a isdirected toward the dugout area 824. During game play, each of thevarious steerable beamformed lobes of the infield directed beamformedlobes set 810 a-810 d may be individually enabled, disabled, shiftedand/or steered to capture sounds that may enhance the immersive audioexperience.

As further depicted in FIG. 8 , the audio signal processing system 800further comprises a second infield digital sound wave capture device 804placed proximate the backstop 822 on the opposite side of the infield asthe first infield digital sound wave capture device 818. In someembodiments, the angle 842 may be identical to the angle 840,positioning the second infield digital sound wave capture device 804 ina symmetric position to the first infield digital sound wave capturedevice 818. In some embodiments, the second infield digital sound wavecapture device 804 is placed at any angle 842 between 30 and 60 degrees,more preferably between 35 and 55 degrees, most preferably between 40and 50 degrees.

As further depicted in FIG. 8 , each steerable beamformed lobe of theinfield directed beamformed lobes set 812 a-812 d may be directed atdifferent areas of the playing region 802 to capture sounds that mayenhance the immersive audio experience. For example, as depicted in FIG.8 , a second home plate beamformed lobe 812 a is directed to capturesound from the home plate area 820, while a second pitcher's moundbeamformed lobe 812 c is directed toward the pitcher's mound area 828, afirst base beamformed lobe 812 c is directed toward the first base area830, and a second dugout beamformed lobe 812 d is directed toward thedugout area 826. During game play, each of the various steerablebeamformed lobes of the infield directed beamformed lobes set 812 a-812d may be individually enabled, disabled, shifted and/or steered tocapture sounds that may enhance the immersive audio experience.

The depicted audio signal processing system 800 further comprises afirst outfield digital sound wave capture device 806 that is configuredto produce a plurality of steerable beamformed lobes (e.g., outfielddirected beamformed lobes 814 a-814 d) positioned on or near theoutfield wall 838 and a second outfield digital sound wave capturedevice 808 that is configured to produce a plurality of steerablebeamformed lobes (e.g., outfield directed beamformed lobes 816 a-816 d)positioned on or near the outfield wall 838. The first outfield digitalsound wave capture device 806 and the second outfield digital sound wavecapture device 808 may be placed in various positions along the outfieldwall 838 to selectively capture sounds emanating from the outfield area836, such as, outfielder conversations, the slap of the ball in anoutfielder's mitt upon making a catch, the sounds of exertion or strainas an outfielder dives to catch a sinking potential base hit, the thumpof an outfielder hitting the outfield wall 838 as they stretch to rob ahome run ball, and so on.

The one or more of the digital sound wave capture devices shown in FIG.8 (e.g., first infield digital sound wave capture device 818, secondinfield digital sound wave capture device 804, first outfield digitalsound wave capture device 806, second outfield digital sound wavecapture device 808) may comprise digital sound wave capture deviceshaving an array architecture, such as a Shure MXA920, a Shure HermesIII, or other similar devices. In some embodiments, one or more of thedigital sound wave capture devices may comprise a digital device havingone or more transducers positioned to capture sound waves in variousdirectional beamformed lobes. In such embodiments, the variousdirectional beamformed lobes are steerable in that they may beindividually positioned and repositioned as needed during game play inorder to support an immersive audio experience.

The digital sound wave capture devices depicted in FIG. 8 may provideenhanced range of capture specifically configured to capture audioemanating from greater distances. For example, audio emanating from thepitcher's mound area 828 may be captured by the first or second infielddigital sound wave capture devices 818, 804 that may be positioned 100to 120 feet away. Audio emanating from players in the outfield area 836may be captured by the first or second outfield digital sound wavecapture devices 806, 808 that may be positioned 175 to 225 feet away. Insome embodiments, by utilizing digital sound wave capture devices thatare configured to produce directional beamformed lobes, sounds emanatingfrom distant sources may be enhanced, while undesirable audio, such asfan conversations, from closer sources may be minimized. Suchdirectionality enables a digital sound wave capture device to isolateand enhance audio data emanating from greater distances. Methods ofdigital signal processing may be further utilized to isolate and enhanceaudio originating from the playing region 802.

As depicted in FIGS. 1-3 and FIG. 8 , each of the sound wave capturedevices utilizing multiple beamformed lobes to achieve spatialselectivity (e.g., hanging linear array sound wave capture device 122,angled linear array sound wave capture device 124, ground linear arraysound wave capture device 132, table top array sound wave capture device134, spectator linear array sound wave capture device 150, support baselinear array sound wave capture device 152, second infield digital soundwave capture device 804, first outfield digital sound wave capturedevice 806, second outfield digital sound wave capture device 808, firstinfield digital sound wave capture device 818) may utilize anymulti-lobe digital sound wave capture device. For example, the depictedsound wave capture devices utilizing multiple beamformed lobes mayutilize a steerable digital sound wave capture device, such as an arraysound wave capture device, and/or a switchable digital sound wavecapture device.

Referring now to FIG. 9 , a digital sound wave capture device 902 (e.g.,first infield digital sound wave capture device 818, second infielddigital sound wave capture device 804, first outfield digital sound wavecapture device 806, or second outfield digital sound wave capture device808) is depicted within a protective enclosure 904 of a playing regionwall 906 (e.g., backstop 822, outfield wall 838). A protective enclosure904 may be any barrier or shield surrounding the digital sound wavecapture device 902 that is configured to protect participants fromcontacting the digital sound wave capture device 902 and associatedequipment; to protect the digital sound wave capture device 902 andassociated equipment from flying baseballs, bats, players, etc.; and toenable the capture of audio to be included in an immersive audioexperience.

In some embodiments, a digital sound wave capture device 902 may bedesigned to comply with specific requirements related to player and/orperformer safety. For example, in the depicted baseball stadiumenvironment 801, any digital sound wave capture device 902 on or nearthe playing region 802 may be required to be shatter-proof underparticular impact standards. A shatter-proof digital sound wave capturedevice 902 may prevent harmful glass or other dangerous projectiles frominjuring players if the digital sound wave capture device 902 iscontacted by a flying ball, and/or run into by a player.

Digital sound wave capture devices 902 may also be configured towithstand environmental conditions under certain environmentalstandards. In some embodiments, such as in the depicted baseball stadiumenvironment 801, the digital sound wave capture devices 902 may beexposed to the elements, such as wind, rain, hail, etc. A digital soundwave capture device 902 may be constructed with reinforcing structuresand/or waterproofing structures in order to operate when exposed tocertain environment conditions.

In some embodiments, the digital sound wave capture device 902 may beconfigured to fit the aesthetics of the arena environment. For example,a baseball stadium may require the digital sound wave capture device 902to be painted to match the home team's colors, and/or other colorfulstructures in the baseball stadium environment 801. The digital soundwave capture devices 902 may also be positioned in enclosures that aredesigned to match the aesthetic of the particular arena environment inwhich it sits.

In some embodiments, a protective enclosure 904 may be an integratedpart of the playing region wall 906, for example, a built-in compartmentin the playing region wall 906. In some embodiments, the protectiveenclosure 904 may be a separate structure, for example a structureattached to the playing region wall 906. The depicted protectiveenclosure 904 includes a durable screen portion that is securelyenclosed by wall elements that are padded for player protection.

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic illustration of an example immersiveaudio signal processing system 100 structured in accordance with variousembodiments. The depicted immersive audio signal processing system 100includes a plurality of sound wave capture devices 1002 a-e that aredistributed throughout an arena environment such as the basketball arenaenvironment 101 shown in FIG. 1 or the or baseball stadium environment801 shown in FIG. 8 .

The sound wave capture devices 1002 a-e may be, for example, standardmicrophones, linear array sound wave capture devices, planar array soundwave capture devices, round array sound wave capture devices, 3D surfacearray sound wave capture devices, suspended 3D array sound wave capturedevices, parabolic microphones, lavalier microphones, shotgunmicrophones, switchable digital sound wave capture devices, and/orsimilar sound wave capturing devices. The sound wave capture devices1002 a-e may be packaged into different form factors (e.g., linear,planar, circular, recessed, etc.) that are configured to allow stealthplacement that blends into an arena environment (e.g., proximate tableedges, near hoops, within floors, etc.).

Sound wave capture devices 1002 a-b may comprise a wireless transmitter,capable of transmitting audio signal streams wirelessly, or, in someembodiments, transmission may occur through a standard wiredcommunication protocol. In embodiments utilizing wireless transmissionfrom a sound wave capture device 1002 a-b, a sound wave receiver 1004may be used to receive the audio data output from one or more wirelesssound wave capture devices. Sound wave capture devices may output analogaudio signal streams that may need to be converted in order to route theanalog audio signal streams to the arena data switch 1008. In suchembodiments, a sound wave converter 1006 (e.g., an analog to digitaltransform) may be used to convert the analog audio signal streams intodigital audio signal streams.

In some embodiments, a sound wave converter 1006 may not be needed suchas in circumstances in which one or more sound wave capture devices 1002c-e produce a digital audio signal output. Regardless of source soundwave capture device 1002 a-e, all output audio signal streams are routedto an arena data switch 1008 for transmission to a remote location forfurther processing. In the depicted embodiment, digital audio signalstreams received at the arena data switch 1008 are transmitted to aremote data switch 1009 using a communication channel 1010. In someembodiments, communication channel 1010 may be a wired cable connectionwhile, in other embodiments, a wireless communication channel 1010 maybe used. The communication channel 1010 may be a high-speed opticalconnection, for example, a fiber optic cable. In other embodiments, thecommunication channel 1010 may comprise wiring capable of transmittingdigital data, such as coaxial cable or ethernet.

The depicted remote data switch 1009 routes digital audio signal streamsto an intelligent digital signal processor 1014 and a production soundmixer 1012 by way of an optional sound wave converter 1006.Additionally, digital audio data feeds such as an auxiliary audio feed1016 drawn from tapping a PA announcer microphone or other noise sourceregion 105 audio stream may be routed to or through the remote dataswitch 1009 as shown. As necessary, such auxiliary audio feeds 1016 maybe routed through a sound wave converter 1006 as shown.

The auxiliary audio feed 1016 may contain audio signal streams from thenoise source region (e.g., noise source region 105, noise source region805) of the arena environment (e.g., arena environment 101, baseballstadium environment 801), for example, the PA announcer, audio datatransmitting from the PA system, or other audio signal streams. Theintelligent digital signal processor 1014 may use the auxiliary audiofeed 1016 to supplement a target arena environment audio stream 1022.However, in other embodiments, the intelligent digital signal processor1014 may use the auxiliary audio feed 1016 to remove or cancel unwantedsignal streams in captured audio, for example, to remove unwanted audiocontent playing on the PA system captured on other wave capture devicespositioned in the arena environment.

Although not shown, audio feeds from other sources may be routed to andthrough the depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 and theproduction sound mixer 1012 by way of a sound wave converter 1006.Further, the production sound mixer 1012 may be configured to receiveadditional audio inputs to be optionally mixed with the target arenaenvironment audio stream 1022 to produce an immersive audio stream 1024.

In some examples, one or more sound wave capture devices 1002 c-e maycomprise a digital signal processor (DSP). A DSP or DSP processing chainrefers to any hardware, software, or combination thereof configured toprocess captured audio signal streams by performing operations tofilter, clean, extract features, and/or otherwise process. A DSP may beconfigured to operations such as beamforming, AI denoising, AI speechremoval, acoustic echo cancellation, and so on. In some embodiments,none, or all of these features may be enabled on an individual soundwave capture device (e.g., sound wave capture devices 1002 c-e). Suchprocessing techniques may be used to form precise beamformed lobes basedon locality and source identified audio content.

One or more sound wave capture devices 1002 c-e may be configured totransmit audio received from selected beamformed lobes on separate audiochannels. However, the sound wave capture devices 1002 c-e may also beconfigured to transmit audio signal streams from selected beamformedlobes on one or more mixed channels.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 may be any devicethat is capable of mixing and processing disparate audio signal streamscaptured from various sound wave capture devices 1002 a-e positionedabout an arena environment to produce a target arena environment audiostream 1022 as further described in relation to FIG. 12 . As depicted inFIG. 10 , the intelligent digital signal processor 1014 is configured toreceive audio signal streams from a variety of sound wave capturedevices 1002 a-e and perform complex digital signal processing on suchincoming streams. Digital signal processing operations may include AIdenoising, AI speech removal, acoustic echo cancelation, audiobeamforming, audio source classification, audio source separation, audiolocalization, and other similar processes may also be performed by theintelligent digital signal processor 1014 as discussed in greater detailin FIG. 12 . In an example embodiment, the intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014 may be incorporated into a Shure Intellimix P300 or anydevice executing the Intellimix room software DSP software.

The depicted production sound mixer 1012 may be configured to receive atarget arena environment audio stream 1022 produced by the intelligentdigital signal processor 1014, in addition to other audio sources, andproduce an immersive audio stream 1024. The target arena environmentaudio stream 1022 may comprise audio data selected and enhanced tocreate an immersive audio experience. In some embodiments, theproduction sound mixer may be utilized to further filter and enhance theaudio data comprising the target arena environment audio stream 1022.For example, the target arena environment audio stream 1022 may comprisedesirable audio data from the spectator region on a first audio channel,playing region sounds on a second audio channel, and playing regionadjacent audio data on a third audio channel. The production sound mixer1012 may be configured to selectively enhance and/or reduce any channelbased on the desired immersive audio experience.

The depicted production sound mixer 1012 may further receive acommentary audio feed 1020 and a broadcast video feed 1018. Thecommentary audio feed 1020 includes audio data related to commentary ofevents occurring in the arena environment, for example, play-by-playaudio for a sporting event. In the depicted embodiment of FIG. 10 , thebroadcast video feed 1018 (e.g., target video stream) is received at theproduction sound mixer 1012. The production sound mixer 1012 may beutilized to synchronize and/or coordinate the broadcast video feed 1018,the commentary audio feed 1020, and the immersive audio stream 1024 togenerate a broadcast transmission 1026 comprising video and associatedaudio data.

In some embodiments, the target arena environment audio stream 1022 maybe coordinated with the camera motion of the broadcast video feed 1018or another target video stream. A target video stream refers to a streamof visual data configured to correspond with a captured and processedimmersive audio stream. In some embodiments, the target arenaenvironment audio stream may be coordinated with the target video streamsuch that the angle, view, or action captured in the target video streamis coordinated with the target arena environment audio stream. In someembodiments, a target arena environment audio stream may be divided intochannels wherein each channel corresponds with a different region of thearena environment. For example, one channel may be associated with thehome plate area, one channel may be associated with the first base area,one channel may be associated with the outfield, and so on.

The motion of a video camera may be dictated by a positional sensingsystem. A positional sensing system refers to a system or deviceconfigured to determine the locations of one or more items indicated asitems of interest and transmit in a position data stream the locationsof the one or more items of interest to one or more connected devices.In some embodiments, the position data stream may be broadcast, suchthat a plurality of connected devices (e.g., an immersive audio signalprocessing system) may access the location data of the one or more itemsof interest. The audio capture area of one or more sound wave capturedevices may be updated based on the location data of the one or moreitems of interest in the position data stream.

For example, in a Major League Baseball® game, video cameras may beconfigured to track the baseball and/or player motion based on feedbackfrom a positional sensing system, such as Statcast™. In a basketballarena environment, a positional sensing system may track and report themovement of the basketball and/or particular players. In football, apositional sensing system such the real time location system used topower Next Gen Stats™ may track the flight of the football and movementof players, and so on.

Such positional sensing systems are configured to track an item or itemsof interest moving about the arena environment. Such positional sensingsystems are configured to determine the location of the one or moreitems of interest and to generate a position data stream (e.g.,coordinate data defining x, y, z position per unit time) that can betransmitted to various position data stream consuming downstreamsystems. One example downstream system is a video camera system that isconfigured to use such position data to programmatically define a movingfield of view for one or more cameras to capture video of the one ormore items of interest.

Another example downstream system is an immersive audio signalprocessing system configured according to various embodiments discussedherein. For example, an immersive audio signal processing system may beconfigured to update an audio capture area of one or more multi-lobedigital sound wave capture devices by steering one or more beamformedlobes, for example, produced by a steerable digital sound wave capturedevice and/or a switchable digital sound wave capture device, based onposition data produced by a positional sensing system. By updating theaudio capture area based on the location of one or more items ofinterest, audio data related to such items of interest may be capturedautomatically, without manual involvement of an operator.

Turning for example to a baseball stadium arena environment, apositional sensing system may track, determine, and transmit positiondata that tracks a baseball that has been hit into the outfield. One ormore multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices (e.g., first outfielddigital sound wave capture device 806, second outfield digital soundwave capture device 808) may update the audio capture area based on thecurrent and/or projected position of the baseball. This current and/orprojected position of the baseball is determined based on position datagenerated by a positional sensing system. In an instance in which anoutfielder dives to catch the baseball, or slams into the wall toattempt to rob a home run, one or more multi-lobe digital sound wavecapture devices may be configured to capture and isolate the audio dataassociated with the on-field action immediately proximate the baseball.

In some embodiments, captured audio data that is generated based onposition data from a positional sensing system may be coordinated with atarget video stream. During a live video broadcast and/or during aninstant replay, the target arena environment audio stream 1022 maycorrespond to a positional sensing system directed video stream. In suchembodiments, a localized and source classified audio stream may beprogrammatically matched to a moving field of view of a video systemthat is tracking moving players, balls, or other items of interest in anarena environment.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example wiring diagram for routing audio signalstreams on defined channels to an example intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014. For example, a sound wave capture device (e.g., groundlinear array sound wave capture device 132 shown in FIG. 1 ) that isrepresented by block 1104 may be configured to generate beamformed lobesthat capture audio streams from four discrete playing region areas,which are output on four audio channels as represented by output ports1106. In addition, sound wave capture devices (e.g., hanging lineararray sound wave capture devices 122 as shown in FIG. 1 ) represented byblocks 1102 may be configured to generate beamformed lobes that captureaudio streams from overlapping playing region areas, which are output ona single mixed audio channel as represented by output ports 1108.Further, a sound wave capture device (e.g., an angled linear array soundwave capture device 124 as shown in FIG. 1 ) that is represented byblock 603 may be configured to generate one or more beamformed lobesthat are directed to a spectator region 103 to capture undesirable audiostreams, which are output on a single audio channel as represented byoutput port 1110.

FIG. 12 depicts a schematic illustration of an intelligent digitalsignal processor 1014 configured for use in an immersive audio signalprocessing system 100 according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 isconfigured to process audio streams captured by various sound wavecapture devices 1002 such as sound wave capture devices 1002 a-e shownin FIG. 10 and/or those more specific sound wave capture devices shownin FIG. 1 . In circumstances in which analog audio streams are producedby one or more sound wave capture devices 1002 a-e, such analog audiostreams may be routed through a sound wave converter 1006, as shown, inpreparation for processing by an intelligent digital signal processor1014.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 comprises variousaudio processing modules that are configured to receive audio signalstreams from the various sound wave capture devices positioned in andaround the arena environment. The intelligent digital signal processoris configured to analyze the captured audio signal streams and determinethe relevance of the audio signal to the immersive audio experience fora remote spectator. Determining the relevance of the audio signal to theimmersive audio experience may include identifying the source of theaudio signal stream, identifying the content of the audio signal stream,and/or classifying the type of the audio signal stream.

As further described herein, the one or more analyzed audio signalstreams may be transmitted as a portion of a target arena environmentaudio stream 1022, based on the determinations of the intelligentdigital signal processor 1014. In some embodiments, the target arenaenvironment audio stream 1022 may be transmitted through an outputinterface 1218 and directly to a remote spectator display. In someembodiments, the target arena environment audio stream 1022 may betransmitted on various channels to a production sound mixer 1012 orsimilar device to be further mixed, selected, and removed in order toproduce an immersive audio stream for transmission to a remote viewerdisplay.

As depicted in FIG. 12 , the depicted intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014 includes a DSP module 1200 that is configured to usesound wave processing techniques to enhance or manipulate digital audiosignals. A DSP may be used to perform operations such as automatic gaincontrol, audio encoding/decoding, static and other simple noise removal,resampling, and so on.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 further comprisesan audio localization module 1202. In some embodiments, an audiolocalization module 1202 may be configured to map received audio wavesand/or an audio source to a physical location in the arena environment101 or baseball stadium environment 801. By assigning audio sources to aknown physical location, an immersive audio signal processing system 100may be configured to remove audio streams emanating from unwantedlocations. Alternatively, an immersive audio signal processing system100 may be configured to isolate and enhance audio streams emanatingfrom desirable locations.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 is furtherconfigured to comprise an audio beamforming module 1204 configured todetermine or refine beamformed lobes of the immersive audio signalprocessing system 100. The audio beamforming module 1204 may employtraditional means of beamforming such as delay and sum or may employdeep neural network (DNN), other specifically trained machine learning(ML) models, or other artificial intelligence-based beamformingtechniques.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 is furtherconfigured to comprise an audio source separation module 1206. Audiosource separation modules 1206 as discussed herein are configured toisolate, route, or filter discrete audio sources from one or more audiostreams. The audio source separation module 1206 may employ its ownsophisticated DNN, ML, or artificial techniques to aid in the separationof audio sources. Additionally, the audio source separation module 1206may be configured to route certain audio sources to dedicated audiochannels for specific use cases. Further, the audio source separationmodule 1206 discussed herein may rely on audio beamforming from theaudio beamforming module 1204 discussed above, while in otherembodiments source separation may be performed without the aid of theaudio beamforming module 1204.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 furthercomprises, an acoustic echo cancelation module 1208 configured to reduceor null echo introduced into one or more audio streams via thepositioning of the sound wave capture devices proximate the arenaenvironment.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 is furtherconfigured to comprise an acoustic source classification module 1210that is configured to identify and label audio sources or classes.Acoustic source classification modules 1210 as discussed herein may relyon simple techniques such as those that determine audio source fromfixed microphone locations (i.e., audio streams from a coach mountedlavalier microphone can be reliably tagged as coach-sourced) or on moresophisticated techniques such as those that might employ complex MLclustering algorithms to distinguish between on-court sounds andoff-court sounds. In various embodiments, the acoustic sourceclassification module 1210 may be configured to classify the followingaudio sounds: crowd noise, player speech, floor sounds, ambient sound,PA noise, whistles, and so on.

In some embodiments, the acoustic source classification module 1210 mayutilize machine learning or other artificial intelligence algorithms toidentify specific acoustic sources and selectively include or excludesources from the immersive audio experience. For example, the acousticsource classification module 1210 may be configured to identify a noisesource and noise source components. A noise source refers to the originor cause of noise, often undesirable, emanating from any region withinan arena environment. A noise source may be a PA speaker, arena speakersgenerating background music and/or advertisements, spectatorconversations, wind, squeaking shoes, and/or other similar sounds. Anoise source may provide a separate audio feed available to theimmersive audio signal processing system through one or more additionalaudio channels. Identified sources may be selectively removed orenhanced and/or automatically removed or enhanced during operation.

The acoustic source classification module 1210 may be further configuredto identify noise audio components. Noise audio components are anyundesirable audio data received by a sound wave capture device withinthe arena environment. For example, noise audio components may includespectator conversations, exclamations from individual spectators, vendorexclamations, announcements from the PA system, background music, andother similar undesirable audio data.

The acoustic source classification module 1210 may utilize a noisesource classification to identify an audio signal stream as a noisesource and/or the noise audio components within the audio signal stream.A noise source classification refers to a set of features or parameterscommonly associated with a noise source. For example, a noise sourceclassification may include frequencies, amplitudes, reverberations, andother similar sound wave features, along with locations, distances, andother features common to one or more particular noise sources. In someembodiments, a noise source classification may be utilized to identifyand isolate the noise source.

One or more beamformed lobes may be updated based on the noise sourceclassification. Updating a beamformed lobe may include any actionperformed to enhance or suppress at least a portion of the receivedaudio data. Updates to sound wave capture devices may include filteringor amplifying certain frequencies of audio data, and/or filtering oramplifying audio data based on location. Updates to beamformed lobes maybe accomplished through DSP configuration and algorithms, enabling ordisabling hardware or software filters, adjusting beamforming parametersto steer the location of beamformed lobes, and/or enabling or disablingportions of the digital sound wave capture device (e.g., condenser,transducer) to modify the field of capture of a sound wave capturedevice.

In one example, in an instance in which a portion of audio data isidentified as an unwanted source based at least in part on thefrequency, a digital sound wave capture device or associated DSP may beconfigured to For example, in an instance in which a portion of audiodata captured by a steerable digital sound wave capture device isidentified as an unwanted source,

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 furthercomprises, an AI denoising module 1212 that is configured to use DNN,ML, or other AI techniques to determine denoising masks that can beapplied to an audio signal sample to remove, cancel, or mute undesirednoise, speech, off-court sounds, PA announcements, arena music, and thelike. An example AI denoising module 1212 is discussed in detail inconnection with the audio processing systems disclosed in commonly ownedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/679,904, titled “DEEP NEURAL NETWORKDENOISER MASK GENERATION SYSTEM FOR AUDIO PROCESSING,” and filed on Feb.24, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 further comprisesan AI speech removal module 1214 configured to utilize DNN, ML, orartificial intelligence techniques to recognize and remove undesiredwords and/or sounds from the audio signal streams. Such AI speechremoval functionality is discussed in detail in commonly owned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 17/679,904, which is incorporated byreference above. In some embodiments, the AI speech removal module 1214discussed herein may rely on AI denoising from the AI denoising module1212 discussed above to remove undesired noise before removing undesiredspeech. Alternatively, the AI speech removal may be performed withoutthe aid of the AI denoising module 1212.

In various embodiments, one or more of the DSP module 1200, AI denoisingmodule 1212, AI speech removal module 1214, acoustic echo cancelationmodule 1208, audio beamforming module 1204, acoustic sourceclassification module 1210, audio source separation module 1206, andaudio localization module 1202 may be omitted from the intelligentdigital signal processor 1014 and instead positioned within some othercomponent of the immersive audio signal processing system 100. Forexample, one or more of the DSP module 1200, AI denoising module 1212,AI speech removal module 1214, acoustic echo cancelation module 1208,audio beamforming module 1204, acoustic source classification module1210, audio source separation module 1206, and audio localization module1202 may be configured for placement in one or more of the sound wavecapture devices 1002 a-e shown in FIG. 10 .

The depicted intelligent digital signal processor 1014 is configured toprocess the received one or more audio signal streams through one ormore of the depicted DSP module 1200, AI denoising module 1212, AIspeech removal module 1214, acoustic echo cancelation module 1208, audiobeamforming module 1204, acoustic source classification module 1210,audio source separation module 1206, and audio localization module 1202before outputting a target arena environment audio stream 1022 as shown.In the depicted embodiment, the target arena environment audio stream1022 is transmitted to a generic output interface 1218.

As further depicted in FIG. 12 , the depicted intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014 includes an output interface 1218. An output interface1218 is any electrical exchange boundary facilitating the transfer oftarget arena environment audio stream 1022 and other electronic datafrom the intelligent digital signal processor 1014. In some embodiments,the output interface 1218 may comprise wiring, circuitry, cables, and/oranother other communication medium. In some embodiments, the intelligentdigital signal processor 1014 may interface with a wireless antenna tooutput the target arena environment audio stream 1022 as wireless data.

In some embodiments, the target arena environment audio stream 1022 maybe transmitted to the output interface 1218 in discrete audio channelsas informed by the processing of the audio signal streams. Transmittingthe target arena environment audio stream 1022 in discrete channels mayenable a remote viewer or a broadcast audio producer (using productionsound mixer 1012 shown in FIG. 10 ) to select targeted audio channels toenhance a particular camera view or video feed.

In some embodiments, the intelligent digital signal processor 1014 maybe configured to produce a digital environment encoding. A digitalenvironment encoding refers to a set of configuration parameters,weights, or values that were identified or learned by an intelligentdigital signal processor 1014 or its constituent components (e.g., DSPmodule 1200, AI denoising module 1212, AI speech removal module 1214,acoustic echo cancelation module 1208, audio beamforming module 1204,acoustic source classification module 1210, audio source separationmodule 1206, and audio localization module 1202) to identify and/orenhance preferred audio data and/or suppress, null, or filterundesirable audio data for a specific arena environment. In someembodiments, a digital environment encoding may include frequencies,amplitudes, sound wave patterns, and other similar sound wave featuresutilized by the various modules within the intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014 to classify, identify, locate, and filter audio dataspecific to an arena environment.

Further parameters may include features related to the locations ofaudio data within the arena environment, for example, distances fromparticular sound wave capture devices, and other parameters related tothe location and orientation of the specific arena environments. Thedigital environment encoding for a specific arena environment may enablethe intelligent digital signal processor 1014 modules to identify,separate, enhance, amplify, and exclude specific audio sources based onhistorical or training data (e.g., training target arena environmentaudio streams) captured from immersive audio signal processing systemspositioned within similar arena environments. For example, in a baseballstadium environment (e.g., baseball stadium environment 801), a digitalenvironment encoding may configure the acoustic source classificationmodule 1210 to identify wind noise, based on the frequency and patternof the captured sound wave. Once identified as wind noise, the windnoise may be removed from target arena environment audio stream 1022.

The digital environment encoding is also optimized for particular arenaenvironments as audio data may be excluded as noise in a first arenaenvironment that is included as preferred audio data in a second arenaenvironment. For example, an immersive audio signal processing systeminstalled within a basketball arena environment may be configured topass/enhance the squeak of player's shoes on the court into a targetarena environment audio stream while an immersive audio signalprocessing system installed within a theater arena environment may beconfigured to exclude as noise similar squeaks of actor's shoes on astage.

A digital environment encoding may also be utilized by an intelligentdigital signal processor 1014 as a basis for a new arena environmenthaving similar characteristics. For example, the intelligent digitalsignal processor 1014 in an immersive audio signal processing systemdeployed in a football stadium arena environment may be configured witha digital environment encoding developed based on a baseball stadiumarena environment. The baseball stadium generated digital environmentencoding may be utilized in the football stadium arena environment untilenough historical or training data may be collected from the footballstadium environment to create a discrete digital environment encodingspecific to the football stadium environment or to adequately retrainthe baseball stadium generated digital environment encoding to create anupdated digital environment encoding suited for the football stadiumenvironment.

In still other embodiments, immersive audio signal processing systemsconfigured as described herein may be configured to retrain a digitalenvironment encoding developed based on a first baseball stadium arenaenvironment (e.g., Comerica Park) to create an updated digitalenvironment encoding suited for a second baseball stadium environment(e.g., Wrigley Field). Said differently, a first digital environmentencoding may be retrained to create an updated digital environmentencoding suited for a second arena environment that is of a common arenatype (e.g., baseball stadium environments in this example) as a firstarena environment that was used to create the first digital environmentencoding. Such retraining may be particularly important in circumstanceswhere arena environments of common arena types have widely differingphysical dimensions and acoustic parameters.

A digital environment encoding may include one or more parametersassociated with a machine learning model. In some embodiments, theintelligent digital signal processor 1014 may comprise one or moremachine learning models (e.g., AI denoising module 1212, AI speechremoval module 1214, acoustic echo cancelation module 1208, acousticsource classification module 1210, audio source separation module 1206,and audio localization module 1202) configured to enhance, filter,amplify, or otherwise process received audio data. In such anembodiment, a digital environment encoding may contain machine learningmodel parameters or weights that are configured to tune or train one ormore machine learning models used by the intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014 to a particular arena environment.

In some embodiments, a digital environment encoding may includesub-region encodings that include configuration parameters, weights, orvalues that were identified or learned by an intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014 or its constituent components (e.g., DSP module 1200, AIdenoising module 1212, AI speech removal module 1214, acoustic echocancelation module 1208, audio beamforming module 1204, acoustic sourceclassification module 1210, audio source separation module 1206, andaudio localization module 1202) to identify and/or enhance preferredaudio data and/or suppress, null, or filter undesirable audio data for aspecific regions (e.g., a playing region, a spectator region, playingregion adjacent area, etc.) of an arena environment. For example, adigital environment encoding for a baseball arena environment mayinclude discrete sub-region encodings for the playing field, the dugout,and the spectator region. Such sub-region encodings enable immersiveaudio signal processing systems as discussed herein to produce a targetplaying region stream for a dugout (e.g., a playing region adjacentarea) that includes person to person conversation audio while alsoproducing a target playing region stream for a spectator region thatexcludes person to person conversation audio.

As further depicted in FIG. 12 , the intelligent digital signalprocessor 1014 is electrically connected to a digital environmentencoding database 1220. The digital environment encoding database 1220is configured to store one or more digital environment encodings, asdescribed herein. Access to a digital environment encoding database 1220may enable an intelligent digital signal processor 1014 to generate atarget arena environment audio stream 1022 specific to a specific arenaenvironment, region, and/or sub-region of a specific arena environment.The intelligent digital signal processor 1014 may access the one or moredigital environment encodings from the digital environment encodingdatabase 1220 during operation to aid in the identification,classification, and selection of audio streams during operation.

Importantly, in accordance with various embodiments, target arenaenvironment audio streams 1022 produced by immersive audio signalprocessing systems are configured to create an immersive audioexperience for a remote spectator by virtually positioning the remotespectator within a particular region of an arena environment (e.g., aplaying region, a spectator region, playing region adjacent area, etc.)while also optimizing the audio experience (e.g., amplifying orenhancing preferred sounds while filtering or removing undesirablesounds) for the particular region of the arena environment. In someembodiments, this remote spectator virtual position may be selected by atelevision producer or content generator while, in other embodiments,the remote spectator virtual position may be selected by remotespectators themselves by engaging virtual position option menuspresented to a graphical user interface (e.g., an output interface). Forexample, a remote spectator may choose to begin watching a baseball gamevirtually by selecting a first immersive audio experience generated fromthe perspective of the spectator region of a baseball stadiumenvironment but later switch, via option menus rendered to a graphicaluser interface, to a second immersive audio experience generated fromthe perspective of the dugout (e.g., a playing region adjacent area).

Many modifications and other embodiments of the disclosures set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which thesedisclosures pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing description and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the disclosures are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, unlessdescribed otherwise.

While various embodiments in accordance with the principles disclosedherein have been shown and described above, modifications thereof may bemade by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and theteachings of the disclosure. The embodiments described herein arerepresentative only and are not intended to be limiting. Manyvariations, combinations, and modifications are possible and are withinthe scope of the disclosure. The disclosed embodiments relate primarilyto a basketball arena environment, however, one skilled in the art mayrecognize that such principles may be applied to a variety of arenaenvironments including football stadium environments, hockey stadiumenvironments, soccer stadium environments, baseball stadiumenvironments, concert hall or stadium environments, theatricalenvironments, and the like. Alternative embodiments that result fromcombining, integrating, and/or omitting features of the embodiment(s)are also within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope ofprotection is not limited by the description set out above.

Additionally, the section headings used herein are provided forconsistency with the suggestions under 37 C.F.R. 1.77 or to otherwiseprovide organizational cues. These headings shall not limit orcharacterize the invention(s) set out in any claims that may issue fromthis disclosure.

Use of broader terms such as “comprises,” “includes,” and “having”should be understood to provide support for narrower terms such as“consisting of,” “consisting essentially of,” and “comprisedsubstantially of”. Use of the terms “optionally,” “may,” “might,”“possibly,” and the like with respect to any element of an embodimentmeans that the element is not required, or alternatively, the element isrequired, both alternatives being within the scope of the embodiment(s).Also, references to examples are merely provided for illustrativepurposes, and are not intended to be exclusive.

Hereinafter, various characteristics will be highlighted in a set ofnumbered clauses or paragraphs. These characteristics are not to beinterpreted as being limiting on the invention or inventive concept, butare provided merely as a highlighting of some characteristics asdescribed herein, without suggesting a particular order of importance orrelevancy of such characteristics.

Clause 1. An immersive audio signal processing system positionedproximate an arena environment, the arena environment defining a playingregion, a spectator region, and a noise source region, the immersiveaudio signal processing system comprising a plurality of multi-lobedigital sound wave capture devices configured to produce an audio signalstream.

Clause 2. The immersive audio signal processing system of clause 1,wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devicesare positioned within the arena environment and are further configuredto direct one or more first beamformed lobes to the playing region, oneor more second beamformed lobes to the spectator region, and one or morethird beamformed lobes to the noise source region.

Clause 3. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-2, further comprising a digital signal processor.

Clause 4. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-3, wherein the digital signal processor is configured toisolate noise audio components originating from at least one of thespectator region or the noise source region from the audio signal streamto generate a target arena environment audio stream.

Clause 5. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-4, further comprising an output interface configured to outputthe target arena environment audio stream.

Clause 6. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the digital signal processor is configured toisolate noise audio components originating from the playing region.

Clause 7. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the target arena environment audio stream comprisesa plurality of channels, wherein a first channel of the plurality ofchannels is associated with the playing region of the arena environment,and wherein a second channel of the plurality of channels is associatedwith one of the spectator region or the noise source region.

Clause 8. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 7, wherein the first channel or the second channel of theplurality of channels of the target arena environment audio stream arecorrelated with a target video stream.

Clause 9. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 7-8, wherein the first channel or the second channel ofthe plurality of channels of the target arena environment audio streamare correlated with the target video stream based on a stream ofposition data generated by a positional sensing system that is trackingan item of interest.

Clause 10. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the digital signal processor is configured toisolate a noise source and generate a noise source classification.

Clause 11. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 10, wherein the first beamformed lobes, the secondbeamformed lobes, and/or the third beamformed lobes are updated based onthe noise source classification.

Clause 12. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wavecapture devices comprises at least a steerable digital sound wavecapture device.

Clause 13. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 12, wherein the steerable digital sound wave capturedevice comprises an array sound wave capture device.

Clause 14. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wavecapture devices comprises at least a switchable digital sound wavecapture device.

Clause 15. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 14, wherein the switchable digital sound wave capturedevice comprises a plurality of transducers, and wherein, the pluralityof transducers are configured in different orientations, such that thefirst beamformed lobes, the second beamformed lobes, and/or the thirdbeamformed lobes may be updated by switching between the plurality oftransducers.

Clause 16. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the digital signal processor is configured with adigital environment encoding comprising a set of parameters enablingidentification of noise audio components in the arena environment.

Clause 17. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or clause 16, wherein the digital environment encodingcomprising the set of parameters enabling identification of noise audiocomponents in the arena environment is generated based on trainingtarget arena environment audio streams produced by a training immersiveaudio signal processing system positioned within a second arenaenvironment.

Clause 18. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or clause 16-17, wherein the second arena environment is oneof a basketball arena, a football stadium, a hockey stadium, a soccerstadium, a boxing arena, a concert hall, a theater, an outdoor footballstadium, an outdoor baseball stadium, a soccer stadium, or a concertvenue and the arena environment is a different one of the basketballarena, the football stadium, the hockey stadium, the soccer stadium, theboxing arena, the concert hall, the theater, the outdoor footballstadium, the outdoor baseball stadium, the soccer stadium, or theconcert venue.

Clause 19. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or clause 16-17, wherein the second arena environment is ofa common arena type as the arena environment.

Clause 20. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the first beamformed lobes, the second beamformedlobes, and/or the third beamformed lobes are directed to updated targetpositions based on one or more locations provided by a positionalsensing system.

Clause 21. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the first beamformed lobes, the second beamformedlobes, and/or the third beamformed lobes are directed to updated targetpositions based on a remote spectator virtual position.

Clause 22. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the one or more first beamformed lobes are directedto a playing region adjacent area.

Clause 23. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or clause 22, wherein the playing region adjacent areacomprises one or more player bench areas of a basketball arenaenvironment.

Clause 24. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or clause 22, wherein the playing region adjacent areacomprises one or more dugout areas of a baseball stadium arenaenvironment.

Clause 25. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the playing region comprises a first end, a secondend opposite the first end, and a mid-court region proximate anintersection of the first end and the second end, and wherein each ofthe first end and the second end comprises a first side, a second sideopposite the first side, and a center region proximate the intersectionof the first side and the second side.

Clause 26. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices comprises one or more linear array sound wavecapture devices positioned proximate the first end and/or the second endof the playing region and configured to direct one or more beamformedlobes to the playing region and one or more beamformed lobes to thespectator region.

Clause 27. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25-26, wherein at least one of the one or more lineararray sound wave capture devices is attached to a basketball hoopsupport assembly.

Clause 28. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices comprises one or more linear array sound wavecapture devices positioned proximate the first end and/or the second endof the playing region and configured to direct one or more beamformedlobes to the center region of the playing region, one or more beamformedlobes to the first side of the playing region, and one or morebeamformed lobes to the second side of the playing region.

Clause 29. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25 or 28, wherein at least one of the one or more lineararray sound wave capture devices is attached to a basketball hoopsupport assembly.

Clause 30. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices comprises one or more linear array sound wavecapture devices positioned proximate the mid-court region of the playingregion and configured to direct one or more beamformed lobes to thefirst end of the playing region, one or more beamformed lobes to thesecond end of the playing region, and one or more beamformed lobes tothe mid-court region of the playing region.

Clause 31. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25 or 30, wherein the one or more linear array sound wavecapture devices is attached to a scorer's table proximate a surface ofthe playing region.

Clause 32. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices comprises one or more circular array sound wavecapture devices positioned proximate the mid-court region of the playingregion and configured to direct one or more beamformed lobes to theplaying region.

Clause 33. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 25 or 30, wherein the one or more circular array soundwave capture devices is attached to a scorer's table elevated above asurface of the playing region.

Clause 34. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5, wherein the playing region comprises a home plate areacomprising a home plate, a pitcher's mound area comprising a pitcher'smound, a first base area, a third base area, a backstop, a dugout area,an outfield, and an outfield wall.

Clause 35. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 34, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices comprises one or more infield digital sound wavecapture devices on or near the backstop.

Clause 36. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 34-35, wherein the one or more infield digital sound wavecapture devices are positioned at an angle between 30 and 60 degreesfrom a line passing through the pitcher's mound and the home plate.

Clause 37. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 34-35, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices comprises a first infield digital sound wavecapture device positioned on the backstop proximate the first base area,wherein the first infield digital sound wave capture device isconfigured to direct one or more beamformed lobes to the first basearea, and wherein the first infield digital sound wave capture device isconfigured to direct one or more additional beamformed lobes to the homeplate area.

Clause 38. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 34-35, further comprising a second infield digital soundwave capture device positioned on the backstop proximate the third basearea, wherein the second infield digital sound wave capture device isconfigured to direct one or more beamformed lobes to the third basearea.

Clause 39. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 34, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital soundwave capture devices comprises one or more outfield digital sound wavecapture devices on or near the outfield wall.

Clause 40. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 1-5 or 34 or 39, wherein the one or more outfield digital soundwave capture devices is configured to direct one or more beamformedlobes toward the outfield of the playing region.

Clause 41. An immersive audio signal processing system positionedproximate an arena environment, the arena environment defining a playingregion, and a spectator region, the immersive audio signal processingsystem comprising a plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capturedevices configured to produce an audio signal stream.

Clause 42. The immersive audio signal processing system of clause 41,wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devicesare positioned within the arena environment and are further configuredto direct one or more first beamformed lobes to the playing region, andone or more second beamformed lobes to the spectator region.

Clause 43. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-42, further comprising a digital signal processor, whereinthe digital signal processor is configured to isolate noise audiocomponents originating from the spectator region from the audio signalstream to generate a target arena environment audio stream.

Clause 44. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-43, further comprising an output interface configured tooutput the target arena environment audio stream.

Clause 45. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the digital signal processor is configured toisolate noise audio components originating from the playing region.

Clause 46. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the target arena environment audio streamcomprises a plurality of channels, wherein a first channel of theplurality of channels is associated with the playing region of the arenaenvironment, and wherein a second channel of the plurality of channelsis associated with the spectator region.

Clause 47. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 46, wherein the first channel or the second channel ofthe plurality of channels of the target arena environment audio streamare correlated with a target video stream.

Clause 48. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 46-47, wherein the first channel or the second channelof the plurality of channels of the target arena environment audiostream are correlated with the target video stream based on a stream ofposition data generated by a positional sensing system that is trackingan item of interest.

Clause 49. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the digital signal processor is configured toisolate a noise source and generate a noise source classification.

Clause 50. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 49, wherein the first beamformed lobes and/or thesecond beamformed lobes are updated based on the noise sourceclassification.

Clause 51. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wavecapture devices comprises at least a steerable digital sound wavecapture device.

Clause 52. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 51, wherein the steerable digital sound wave capturedevice comprises an array sound wave capture device.

Clause 53. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wavecapture devices comprises at least a switchable digital sound wavecapture device.

Clause 54. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 53, wherein the switchable digital sound wave capturedevice comprises a plurality of transducers, and

Clause 55. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 53-54, wherein, the plurality of transducers areconfigured in different orientations, such that the first beamformedlobes and/or the second beamformed lobes may be updated by switchingbetween the plurality of transducers.

Clause 56. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the digital signal processor is configured with adigital environment encoding comprising a set of parameters enablingidentification of noise audio components in the arena environment.

Clause 57. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 56, wherein the digital environment encoding comprisingthe set of parameters enabling identification of noise audio componentsin the arena environment is generated based on training target arenaenvironment audio streams produced by a training immersive audio signalprocessing system positioned within a second arena environment.

Clause 58. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 56-57, wherein the second arena environment is one of abasketball arena, a football stadium, a hockey stadium, a soccerstadium, a boxing arena, a concert hall, a theater, an outdoor footballstadium, an outdoor baseball stadium, a soccer stadium, or a concertvenue and the arena environment is a different one of the basketballarena, the football stadium, the hockey stadium, the soccer stadium, theboxing arena, the concert hall, the theater, the outdoor footballstadium, the outdoor baseball stadium, the soccer stadium, or theconcert venue.

Clause 59. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44 or 56-57, wherein the second arena environment is of acommon arena type as the arena environment.

Clause 60. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the first beamformed lobes and/or the secondbeamformed lobes are directed to updated target positions based on oneor more locations provided by a positional sensing system.

Clause 61. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the first beamformed lobes and/or the secondbeamformed lobes are directed to updated target positions based on aremote spectator virtual position.

Clause 62. The immersive audio signal processing system of any one ofclauses 41-44, wherein the one or more first beamformed lobes aredirected to a playing region adjacent area.

Clause 63. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storinginstructions that are operable, when executed by one or more processorsof an apparatus, to cause the apparatus to perform operations inaccordance with any of the foregoing Clauses

Clause 64. A computer-implemented method, comprising operations inaccordance with any of the foregoing Clauses.

That which is claimed:
 1. An immersive audio signal processing systempositioned proximate an arena environment, the arena environmentdefining a playing region, a spectator region, and a noise sourceregion, the immersive audio signal processing system comprising: aplurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices configured toproduce an audio signal stream, wherein the plurality of multi-lobedigital sound wave capture devices are positioned within the arenaenvironment and are further configured to direct one or more firstbeamformed lobes to the playing region, one or more second beamformedlobes to the spectator region, and one or more third beamformed lobes tothe noise source region; a digital signal processor configured toisolate noise audio components originating from at least one of thespectator region or the noise source region from the audio signal streamto generate a target arena environment audio stream; and an outputinterface configured to output the target arena environment audiostream.
 2. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim 1,wherein the digital signal processor is configured to isolate noiseaudio components originating from the playing region.
 3. The immersiveaudio signal processing system of claim 1, wherein the target arenaenvironment audio stream comprises a plurality of channels, wherein afirst channel of the plurality of channels is associated with theplaying region of the arena environment, and wherein a second channel ofthe plurality of channels is associated with one of the spectator regionor the noise source region.
 4. The immersive audio signal processingsystem of claim 3, wherein the first channel or the second channel ofthe plurality of channels of the target arena environment audio streamare correlated with a target video stream.
 5. The immersive audio signalprocessing system of claim 4, wherein the first channel or the secondchannel of the plurality of channels of the target arena environmentaudio stream are correlated with the target video stream based on aposition data stream generated by a positional sensing system that isconfigured to track an item of interest.
 6. The immersive audio signalprocessing system of claim 1, wherein the digital signal processor isconfigured to isolate a noise source and generate a noise sourceclassification.
 7. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim6, wherein the first beamformed lobes, the second beamformed lobes, orthe third beamformed lobes are updated based on the noise sourceclassification.
 8. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim1, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capturedevices comprises at least a steerable digital sound wave capturedevice.
 9. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim 8,wherein the steerable digital sound wave capture device comprises anarray sound wave capture device.
 10. The immersive audio signalprocessing system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of multi-lobedigital sound wave capture devices comprises at least a switchabledigital sound wave capture device.
 11. The immersive audio signalprocessing system of claim 10, wherein the switchable digital sound wavecapture device comprises a plurality of transducers, and wherein, theplurality of transducers are configured in different orientations, suchthat the first beamformed lobes, the second beamformed lobes, or thethird beamformed lobes are updated by switching between the plurality oftransducers.
 12. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim1, wherein the digital signal processor is configured with a digitalenvironment encoding comprising a set of parameters enablingidentification of noise audio components in the arena environment. 13.The immersive audio signal processing system of claim 12, wherein thedigital environment encoding comprising the set of parameters enablingidentification of noise audio components in the arena environment isgenerated based on training target arena environment audio streamsproduced by a training immersive audio signal processing systempositioned within a second arena environment.
 14. The immersive audiosignal processing system of claim 13, wherein the second arenaenvironment is one of a basketball arena, a football stadium, a hockeystadium, a soccer stadium, a boxing arena, a concert hall, a theater, anoutdoor football stadium, an outdoor baseball stadium, a soccer stadium,or a concert venue and the arena environment is a different one of thebasketball arena, the football stadium, the hockey stadium, the soccerstadium, the boxing arena, the concert hall, the theater, the outdoorfootball stadium, the outdoor baseball stadium, the soccer stadium, orthe concert venue.
 15. The immersive audio signal processing system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more first beamformed lobes are directed toa playing region adjacent area.
 16. The immersive audio signalprocessing system of claim 15, wherein the playing region adjacent areacomprises one or more player bench areas of a basketball arenaenvironment.
 17. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim15, wherein the playing region adjacent area comprises one or moredugout areas of a baseball stadium arena environment.
 18. The immersiveaudio signal processing system of claim 1, wherein the playing regioncomprises a first end, a second end opposite the first end, and amid-court region proximate an intersection of the first end and thesecond end, and wherein each of the first end and the second endcomprises a first side, a second side opposite the first side, and acenter region proximate the intersection of the first side and thesecond side.
 19. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim18, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capturedevices comprises one or more linear array sound wave capture devicespositioned proximate the first end or the second end of the playingregion and configured to direct one or more beamformed lobes to theplaying region and one or more beamformed lobes to the spectator region.20. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim 19, wherein atleast one of the one or more linear array sound wave capture devices isattached to a basketball hoop support assembly.
 21. The immersive audiosignal processing system of claim 18, wherein the plurality ofmulti-lobe digital sound wave capture devices comprises one or morelinear array sound wave capture devices positioned proximate the firstend or the second end of the playing region and configured to direct oneor more beamformed lobes to the center region of the playing region, oneor more beamformed lobes to the first side of the playing region, andone or more beamformed lobes to the second side of the playing region.22. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim 21, wherein atleast one of the one or more linear array sound wave capture devices isattached to a basketball hoop support assembly.
 23. The immersive audiosignal processing system of claim 18, wherein the plurality ofmulti-lobe digital sound wave capture devices comprises one or morelinear array sound wave capture devices positioned proximate themid-court region of the playing region and configured to direct one ormore beamformed lobes to the first end of the playing region, one ormore beamformed lobes to the second end of the playing region, and oneor more beamformed lobes to the mid-court region of the playing region.24. The immersive audio signal processing system of claim 18, whereinthe plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices comprisesone or more circular array sound wave capture devices positionedproximate the mid-court region of the playing region and configured todirect one or more beamformed lobes to the playing region.
 25. Theimmersive audio signal processing system of claim 24, wherein the one ormore circular array sound wave capture devices is attached to a scorer'stable elevated above a surface of the playing region.
 26. The immersiveaudio signal processing system of claim 1, wherein the playing regioncomprises a home plate area comprising a home plate, a pitcher's moundarea comprising a pitcher's mound, a first base area, a third base area,a backstop, an outfield, and an outfield wall.
 27. The immersive audiosignal processing system of claim 26, wherein the plurality ofmulti-lobe digital sound wave capture devices comprises one or moreinfield digital sound wave capture devices on or near the backstop. 28.The immersive audio signal processing system of claim 27, wherein theone or more infield digital sound wave capture devices are positioned atan angle between 30 and 60 degrees from a line passing through thepitcher's mound and the home plate.
 29. The immersive audio signalprocessing system of claim 26, wherein the one or more first beamformedlobes comprise an infield directed beamformed lobes set, and wherein theplurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices comprises: afirst infield digital sound wave capture device positioned on thebackstop proximate the first base area, wherein the first infielddigital sound wave capture device is configured to direct a first basebeamformed lobe of the infield directed beamformed lobes set to thefirst base area, and wherein the first infield digital sound wavecapture device is configured to direct a home plate beamformed lobe ofthe infield directed beamformed lobes set to the home plate area; and asecond infield digital sound wave capture device positioned on thebackstop proximate the third base area, wherein the second infielddigital sound wave capture device is configured to direct a third basebeamformed lobe of the infield directed beamformed lobes set to thethird base area.
 30. The immersive audio signal processing system ofclaim 26, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capturedevices comprises one or more outfield digital sound wave capturedevices positioned on or near the outfield wall.
 31. The immersive audiosignal processing system of claim 30, wherein the one or more outfielddigital sound wave capture devices is configured to direct one or moreoutfield directed beamformed lobes of the one or more first beamformedlobes toward the outfield of the playing region.
 32. Acomputer-implemented method comprising: receiving, at a digital signalprocessor, an audio signal stream from a plurality of multi-lobe digitalsound wave capture devices positioned proximate an arena environment,wherein the arena environment defines a playing region, a spectatorregion, and a noise source region, and wherein the plurality ofmulti-lobe digital sound wave capture devices are positioned within thearena environment and are further configured to direct one or more firstbeamformed lobes to the playing region, one or more second beamformedlobes to the spectator region, and one or more third beamformed lobes tothe noise source region; isolating noise audio components originatingfrom at least one of the spectator region or the noise source regionfrom the audio signal stream; generating a target arena environmentaudio stream based at least in part on the audio signal stream from theplurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devices positionedproximate an arena environment; and transmitting the target arenaenvironment audio stream.
 33. The computer-implemented method of claim32, wherein the digital signal processor is configured to isolate noiseaudio components originating from the playing region.
 34. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein the target arenaenvironment audio stream comprises a plurality of channels, wherein afirst channel of the plurality of channels is associated with theplaying region of the arena environment, and wherein a second channel ofthe plurality of channels is associated with one of the spectator regionor the noise source region.
 35. The computer-implemented method of claim34, wherein the first channel or the second channel of the plurality ofchannels of the target arena environment audio stream are correlatedwith a target video stream.
 36. The computer-implemented method of claim35, wherein the first channel or the second channel of the plurality ofchannels of the target arena environment audio stream are correlatedwith the target video stream based on a position data stream generatedby a positional sensing system that is configured to track an item ofinterest.
 37. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, furthercomprising: isolating a noise source in the audio signal stream; anddetermining a noise source classification.
 38. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 37, wherein the first beamformed lobes, the secondbeamformed lobes, or the third beamformed lobes are updated based on thenoise source classification.
 39. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 32, wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capturedevices comprises at least a steerable digital sound wave capturedevice.
 40. The computer-implemented method of claim 39, wherein thesteerable digital sound wave capture device comprises an array soundwave capture device.
 41. The computer-implemented method of claim 32,wherein the plurality of multi-lobe digital sound wave capture devicescomprises at least a switchable digital sound wave capture device. 42.The computer-implemented method of claim 41, further comprising:updating the first beamformed lobes, the second beamformed lobes, or thethird beamformed lobes by switching between a plurality of transducerson the switchable digital sound wave capture device, wherein theplurality of transducers on the switchable digital sound wave capturedevice are configured in different orientations.
 43. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein the digital signalprocessor is configured with a digital environment encoding, and whereinthe digital environment encoding comprises a set of parameters enablingidentification of noise audio components in the arena environment. 44.The computer-implemented method of claim 42, wherein the digitalenvironment encoding comprising the set of parameters enablingidentification of noise audio components in the arena environment isgenerated based on training target arena environment audio streamsproduced by a training immersive audio signal processing systempositioned within a second arena environment.
 45. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 32, further comprising: directingthe first beamformed lobes, the second beamformed lobes, or the thirdbeamformed lobes to updated target positions based on a position datastream provided by a positional sensing system.
 46. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 32, further comprising: directingthe first beamformed lobes, the second beamformed lobes, or the thirdbeamformed lobes to updated target positions based on a remote spectatorvirtual position.
 47. The computer-implemented method of claim 32,further comprising: directing the one or more first beamformed lobes toa playing region adjacent area.